Eli Hodapp
A Messenger Pigeon to the Majic Jungle
I wrote an article on TouchArcade today regarding free to play revenue overtaking paid game revenue on the App Store. Somewhat unsurprisingly, this news has stirred a significant reaction both from the vocal minority of people who despise everything to do with free to play and developers looking to dabble in the payment model for future projects. David Frampton posted some thoughts on his blog earlier and with comments disabled I’ve resorted to this LiveJournal-esque long-form blog response instead of blasting this into the ether across about 42 separate tweets.
What I think is so curious about this “debate” (for lack of a better way to put it) is that so often people bring up “premium” versus “freemium” focusing on the payment model instead of the gameplay experience offered. In these types of arguments “premium” is often completely interchangeable with the word “good.” Conversely, “freemium” is almost always seen as “bad.”
As I write this, I’ve got iTunes in the background looking at the top 200 paid games, all of which by this line of logic are “premium” games from a pricing perspective… But how many of these premiumly priced games offer premium gameplay? I don’t want to name names, but it’s not hard to point out the shocking amount of junk in the top 200, and I’m not sure a single fixed up-front cost makes them anything that I’d ever define as being “premium.”
I still think developers are figuring out the best way to do free to play on the App Store, as few companies outside of NimbleBit have been able to provide a compelling iOS freemium experience without the same time sinks and pay walls that have done little but speed the adoption of “freemium” as a synonym for “bad.” However, looking to the world of Mac and PC games, there’s quite a few shining examples of freemium games that offer premium experiences.
In the MMO space, both Dungeons & Dragons Online and Lord of the Rings Online are offering massive, incredibly comprehensive and deep gameplay experiences with all the features and functionality required for a awesome MMORPG monetized through optional microtransactions. Team Fortress 2 offers some of the best FPS action available on Steam, now entirely for free, monetized through buying entirely optional hats of all things.
Personally, I’ve spent more time playing League of Legends lately than any other game in my spare time, including full-priced “premium” console games that have since either been left untouched or unfinished. Looking at my purchase history, I’ve spent under $20 on League of Legends, and most of that was on completely optional cosmetic skins I didn’t even need.
Anyway, I know the whole paid versus free to play argument is a favorite among many developers and gamers. I’m just looking forward to more people realizing that free to play is just another pricing model and just because it’s been completely abused by early adopters with the farming games we all love to hate, doesn’t mean it should be completely dismissed.
In my eyes, a game can be “premium” regardless of how players pay for it. Being free just opens more doors, provides promotional flexibility that is nowhere to be found in traditional paid sales, and gets more people playing (and enjoying) your games.
Ha! I’ve got no comments either, enjoy blogging at me… MAJIC DAVE!!!
